Gators ruin title chances

FLORIDA 49, GEORGIA 10

Posted: Sunday, January 25, 2009

By Marc Weiszer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Urban Meyer was right. Florida handled Georgia a year after the Bulldogs celebrated on his Gators. And it was quite a big deal. It was the second-biggest win ever for Florida against Georgia.

Eighth-ranked Georgia's hopes of winning its first national title since 1980 are over after the No. 5 Gators completed a 49-10 thrashing before 84,649 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

The Southeastern Conference championship was also all but out of reach for the Bulldogs after Florida got major payback for the Bulldogs' end-zone celebration that stuck in the Gators' craw all offseason.

Meyer, the Gators' coach, made clear in the book "Urban's Way" that Georgia's celebration last year didn't sit well with him.

"That wasn't right. It was a bad deal," Meyer said in the book. "And it will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and in the mind of our football team. ... So we'll handle it. And it's going to be a big deal."

A picture of that touchdown hung in the Florida locker room, but Georgia had nothing to celebrate on this day.

"It hurts a lot," Georgia cornerback Asher Allen said. "I think it's just disappointment. Just realizing a lot was riding on this game, but college football is crazy sometimes. You never know how it's going to end up. It's out of our control now, so all we can do is play out and play as hard as we can."

Florida handed the Bulldogs their most lopsided loss in coach Mark Richt's career, and it was the Gators' largest win against Georgia since a 47-7 victory in 1996.

Meyer prolonged the Bulldogs' agony by calling a timeout with 44 seconds left. And another with 30 seconds remaining despite holding a 39-point lead.

"They were ahead and they probably felt they had to get us back somehow for last year and so they did what they did," Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran said. "They could do whatever they wanted to do."

Richt said Florida had a right to use all of its timeouts.

"Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the game," said Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who scored three rushing touchdowns and passed for two more while completing 10 of 13 passes for 154 yards. "We're still playing the game. We didn't do anything wrong."

Meyer and Richt exchanged a brief handshake after the game.

"I feel for the guys," Richt said. "I feel for our team. I feel for our seniors. This was an opportunity to have another crack at winning the Eastern Division and more than likely that won't happen."

Florida players heard all about last year's 42-30 loss in the offseason.

They had to do 42 repetitions on every weight station and 188 sit-ups, push-ups and crunches during summer workouts to signify the 188 rushing yards that Knowshon Moreno had in last year's game.

"We began to make the big mistakes that will get you," Richt said. "After that point, things just began to get away from us."

Georgia outgained Florida 398 to 373 and had 21 first downs, one less than Florida.

It didn't help that the Gators scored a touchdown in the first half after an unsuccessful Georgia onsides kick and missed first-half field goals of 38 and 27 yards from Blair Walsh.

"You can't look at the score," said Moreno, held to 65 yards on 17 carries and who fumbled in the third quarter. "I think both sides of the ball really played well. It just comes down to those turnovers and they're getting easy points."

Stafford limped off the field after his second interception, but said after the game X-rays showed his left ankle was fine. He also injured his right elbow during the game, but he kept going.

Florida has won 16 of the last 19 games in the series after Georgia failed to win in back-to-back years for the first time since 1988-89.

The Bulldogs' previous largest margins of defeat under Richt were a 34-13 SEC championship loss to LSU in 2003 and a 35-14 loss at Tennessee last season.

"Of course, my last Georgia-Florida game I would have loved to have seen it the other way around," said receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, who had five catches for a career-high 112 yards. "Guys are still going to come out on Monday and prepare the best that we can so we can make sure that we finish out the season."